Watergate Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Components
• Set Up
• Playing the Game
• A) Initial Phase
• B) Card Phase
  • Value Part
  • Action Part
  • Some of the Most Common Instructions
• C) Evaluation Phase
• End of the Game
• Card Overview and Background Information
  • The Informants (Picture Tiles)
  • The Conspirators (Nixon's cards)
  • The Journalists (Editor's cards)
  • Other Cards
• "A Third-Rate Burglary" – The History Behind the Watergate Scandal
• Credits

Object of the Game

In WATERGATE, one player assumes the role of a Newspaper Editor, while the other embodies the Nixon Administration – each with a unique set of cards. To win, the Nixon Administration must build up enough momentum to make it to the end of the term, whereas the Editor must gather enough evidence to connect two informants directly to the President. Of course, the administration will do all in its power to smother that evidence. Can the secret source known as "Deep Throat" tip the scales? A thrilling race against time begins...

Components

• 1 game board
• 1 momentum card "Nixon Administration"
• 1 momentum card "Editor"
• 20 player cards "Nixon Administration"
• 20 player cards "Editor"
• 1 initiative card
• 1 End of round overview card
• 9 momentum tokens
• 1 initiative token
• 36 evidence tokens
• 7 picture tiles
• 1 bag

Set Up

1. Determine who will play the Editor and who will play the Nixon Administration (from now on referred to as "Nixon").
2. Place the game board (A) between you so that the Editor can see the board the right way up, while Nixon looks at it upside down.
3. Take the 21 cards of your role.
4. Place your momentum card (B) face up next to the research track on your side of the board.
5. Shuffle your 20 player cards and place them as your personal draw deck (C) face down in front of you.
6. Beside the 0 space of the research track, place the initiative card (D) face up between the two momentum cards so that its arrows point towards the Editor. Place the End of round overview card (E) next to it.
7. Place the initiative token (F) and 1 momentum token (G) on the 0 space of the research track. Beside the board, form a supply for the remaining 8 momentum tokens (H).
8. Create a supply for the 7 picture tiles (I). This supply is called the "potential informant supply".
9. Put the 30 evidence tokens (J) in the bag (K) and place the bag nearby.

(The board has a research track on the upper part and an evidence board on the lower part. Nixon's momentum card and draw deck sit on one side, the Editor's on the other.)

Playing the Game

WATERGATE is played over a series of rounds. Each round comprises the following 3 phases:

A) Initial phase – Players draw their hand cards for the round and new evidence tokens are placed onto the research track.

B) Card phase – Players alternate playing and resolving 1 card at a time until they have no cards left in hand.

C) Evaluation phase – The initiative, momentum, and evidence tokens on the research track are awarded depending on whose side they are on.

The game ends immediately with a win for Nixon if Nixon has managed to place a total of 5 momentum tokens on their momentum card.

The game ends immediately with a win for the Editor if at least 2 informants (face-up picture tiles) on the evidence board are connected via face-up evidence tokens to Nixon's picture in the center.

A) Initial Phase

Carry out the following 2 steps:

1. Both players: Look at the side of the initiative card that points towards you and draw that many cards from your personal draw deck: either 4 or 5 cards. Put these cards in your hand, concealing them from your opponent. If your personal draw deck runs out, shuffle your discard pile (formed during the game) and place it as the new face-down draw deck in front of you.
2. Nixon only: Draw 3 evidence tokens from the bag and look at them in secret. Then place them face down onto the 0 space of the research track. Nixon may look at face-down evidence tokens on the research track at any time. The Editor may not.

B) Card Phase

Starting with the player who has the initiative (the player that the arrows on the initiative card are pointing towards), the two of you take alternating turns until neither of you has any cards left in hand.

On your turn, you must play ONE card from your hand. Each card consists of two parts:

• a value part, and
• an action part.

Of these two parts, you must choose ONE to use.

Note: Each card also shows a quote at the bottom that has no relevance to the gameplay.

Value Part

If you choose to use the value part, move 1 token on the research track as many spaces towards your side as that value states (1 to 4). You can choose either the initiative token, the momentum token, or an evidence token.

If you move an evidence token, bear the following rules in mind. There are 3 basic types of evidence token, each with a specific color:

• Blue (represents checks for Nixon's re-election campaign)
• Yellow (represents ground-plans of the Watergate complex)
• Green (represents transcripts of the Nixon White House tapes)

There are also two-colored evidence tokens that can be used as either of their colors.

When you use the value part of your card to move an evidence token, it must be a token of the color shown on that card or a two-colored evidence token that includes that color. If your card shows a joker (with all 3 colors), you can move 1 evidence token of any color.

To move a face-down evidence token, also note the following:

• As Nixon, to move a face-down evidence token with the color shown on your card, simply flip the token face up and move it accordingly. (Remember that you can always look at face-down evidence tokens.)
• As the Editor, if you want to move a face-down evidence token, ask Nixon if there is any with the color on your card (if the card shows a joker, name a color). If there is a face-down token with that color, Nixon must flip it face up and move it the appropriate number of spaces towards your side. If there are more than one such tokens, Nixon chooses which of them to flip and move. If there is no face-down evidence token with that color (and Nixon tells you so), you may instead move either the initiative token, the momentum token, or an already face-up evidence token with that color (or – in the case of a joker – any color).

Example: The Editor uses the value part of a card showing yellow and value 2, and so moves one of the following tokens 2 spaces towards their side of the research track: the initiative token, the momentum token, a yellow evidence token (because it matches the color shown on the card), or a yellow/blue evidence token (because one of its two parts matches the color shown on the card). To move a face-down evidence token, the Editor first asks Nixon if that token includes yellow. If it does, Nixon must flip it and move it two spaces towards the Editor's side. If it doesn't, the Editor must choose one of the other options above.

IMPORTANT: After you use a card's value part, discard it face up to your personal discard pile. (If it is your first discarded card, place it face up beside your draw deck to create your discard pile.)

Moving a token to space 5 on your side: Whenever you manage to move a token to space 5 on your side of the research track, any extra steps are forfeited and you gain that token immediately. If you gain a token this way, follow the instructions in the green box of that token's type (see the Evaluation Phase). As soon as a token has been gained, it is gone from the research track and thus can't be moved anymore.

Action Part

If you choose to use the action part of your card, follow the printed instructions. There are 3 types:

EVENTS – Most cards in the game feature an event. Events must be removed from the game (e.g. to the box) after you use their action part. Only the event "Gambit" provides an alternative (see Card Overview).

CONSPIRATORS – Only Nixon has conspirators. After Nixon uses the action part of a conspirator card, it goes to Nixon's discard pile.

JOURNALISTS – Only the Editor has journalists. After the Editor uses the action part of a journalist card, it goes to the Editor's discard pile.

Attention:

• Some cards state requirements which must be met in order to use their action part.
• Some cards are reaction cards. You can only use their action part as a direct reaction to a specific card played by your opponent. (For details, see the Card Overview.)

Important: When following a card's instructions, you have to fully carry out all instructions that are possible. Instructions that cannot be carried out (because, for example, a token that you are supposed to move is not present) can be ignored.

Some of the Most Common Instructions

• If an instruction tells you to move a specific token "X steps", move that token on the research track that many spaces towards your side.
• If an instruction states a space of the research track, move the token to that space.
• If an instruction tells you to move evidence tokens, you can choose among all those on the research track, whether they are face up or face down (unless the instruction clearly states otherwise). Attention: Whenever you move a face-down evidence token, you must flip it face up.
• If an instruction tells you to "pin a picture to the evidence board", it means that you must take the picture tile of the person named from the potential informant supply and place it onto that person's informant space (which is marked with that person's last name). The Editor always places picture tiles face up (as recruited informants), while Nixon places them face down.
• If an instruction tells you to "pin an evidence token to the evidence board", follow the rules described in "Pinning an evidence token to the evidence board" (see the Evaluation Phase).

Further notes:

• At any time, both of you may look at face-down evidence tokens that are already on the evidence board.
• At any time, both of you may look at the cards of either discard pile and any cards already removed from the game (but never those of the face-down draw decks).

C) Evaluation Phase

Once neither player has any cards left in hand, carry out the evaluation phase by following these 5 steps in order:

1) Return neutral evidence tokens to the bag. If there are any evidence tokens left on the 0 space of the research track (face up or face down), return them to the bag.

2) Award this round's initiative token. Give the initiative token to the player whose side of the research track it's on.

Gaining the initiative token: When you gain the initiative token, take it from the research track and place it onto the initiative card. Then turn the initiative card (if necessary) so that its arrows point towards you. This indicates that you have the initiative now.

• If the initiative token is on the 0 space of the research track, it is gained by the player that did not have the initiative this round.
• If the initiative token was gained earlier this round, skip this step.

3) Award this round's momentum token. Give this round's momentum token to the player whose side of the research track it's on.

Gaining the momentum token: When you gain this round's momentum token, take it from the research track and place it onto your momentum card on the empty space with the lowest number. If there is an instruction text next to that space, carry it out now. If the Editor gains the momentum token but has no free space on the momentum card, remove that momentum token from the game!

• If the momentum token is on the 0 space of the research track, it is not gained by either player but returned to the supply instead.
• If the momentum token was gained earlier this round, skip this step.

4) Place the initiative token and 1 new momentum token onto the 0 space. Take the initiative token from the initiative card and place it onto the 0 space of the research track. Then take 1 momentum token from the supply and also place it onto the 0 space of the research track. If you can't do so because there is none left in the supply, Nixon wins the game immediately.

5) Award this round's evidence tokens. Finally, each player gains any evidence tokens that are on their side of the research track. The player with the initiative begins and pins all evidence tokens from their side (if any) to the evidence board. Then the other player does the same for any evidence tokens from their side.

Pinning an evidence token to the evidence board: Whenever you gain an evidence token (or are instructed by a card to pin one to the evidence board), place it onto any empty evidence space that is marked with a slip of that token's color (or – in the case of a two-colored token – one of its two colors). If you are the Editor, place it face up (to create connections). If you are Nixon, place it face down (to disrupt connections). Attention: If the evidence token shows the momentum symbol, also move the momentum token on the research track 1 space towards your side.

If no player has won the game yet, start a new round.

End of the Game

The game ends immediately with a win for Nixon:

• as soon as Nixon places a fifth momentum token onto their momentum card, or
• in rare cases, if no momentum token is left in the supply to be placed on the research track during step 4 of the evaluation phase.

The game ends immediately with a win for the Editor:

• as soon as the Editor has connected Nixon to at least 2 informants on the evidence board. An informant is considered connected to Nixon if a thread coming from that informant's face-up picture tile runs all the way through face-up evidence tokens to Nixon's picture in the center (empty spaces and face-down evidence tokens disrupt connections).

Card Overview and Background Information

The following notes cover the historical figures depicted on the cards and, where relevant, clarify how specific cards work.

The Informants (Picture Tiles)

Rose Mary Woods – Woods served as Richard Nixon's secretary from 1951 through the end of his political career. She was loyal and one of Nixon's closest confidants. Historians believe this loyalty led to Woods testifying before a grand jury that she was responsible for inadvertently erasing parts of an audio tape dated June 20, 1972. Her description of how this occurred became referred to as "the Rose Mary Stretch."

Alexander Butterfield – A recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, Butterfield became deputy assistant to the President. Though not involved directly in the scandal, he instigated Nixon's downfall when he revealed that he had installed a taping system in the oval office pursuant to direct orders from Nixon, acknowledging the system under questioning by senate staffers.

Hugh Sloan – Treasurer of the Committee for the Re-election of the President (CRP). Described by Woodward and Bernstein as one of the few honest persons they interviewed, Sloan had no knowledge of the break-in and resigned due to ethical concerns. He served as an important source for the Washington Post.

Martha Mitchell – Wife of Nixon's Attorney General, John Mitchell. An outgoing public figure referred to as "the mouth of the south," she was a common source for reporters. After discovering that associates of her husband were involved in the break-in, she reached out to reporter Helen Thomas. Her husband ordered a former FBI agent to keep her from talking; she was held against her will and later discredited by Nixon aides.

John Dean – White House Counsel from 1970 through 1973 and a key figure in the cover-up and in Nixon's eventual downfall. Worried he would be made the scapegoat, Dean began cooperating with government officials and pleaded guilty to a single felony count in exchange for his testimony before the grand jury.

Alfred Baldwin – A former FBI agent who, on the night of the break-in, served as the "shadow man" communicating with the burglars via walkie-talkie. He was never charged. An October 1972 interview in the Los Angeles Times led to further investigations.

James McCord – A former CIA agent expert in electronic listening devices, hired for security work by the CRP. One of the five burglars arrested on June 17, 1972, he later wrote a letter to Judge John Sirica implicating senior administration officials in a cover-up, becoming a cooperating witness.

Deep Throat – The alias given to Mark Felt, a special agent and Associate Director of the FBI. Widely considered the most important source in the reporting done by Woodward and Bernstein, his identity remained anonymous for thirty years until he confirmed it in 2005. His famous phrase "Follow the money!" (card 42) was popularized by the movie "All the President's Men" (1976) but was probably never uttered by Felt in reality.

The Conspirators (Nixon's cards)

Howard Hunt – A former CIA officer hired into the White House Special Investigations Unit. He led the burglary of a psychiatrist's office seeking information on Daniel Ellsberg and organized the bugging of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate. Attention: When you use the action part of this card, move the momentum token first. If the momentum token was already claimed earlier during this round, draw and play the top card from your draw deck anyway.

Gordon Liddy – A former FBI agent and chief operative of the White House Plumbers. Liddy organized the burglary of the Watergate with Howard Hunt and was convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping.

Chuck Colson – Special counsel to President Nixon (1969–1973), described as an "evil genius" of the administration. He authored the "Enemies List" memo and hired Howard Hunt, who later organized the break-in. He was eventually indicted for covering up the burglaries.

Bob Haldeman – White House Chief of Staff (1969–1973). Instrumental in the cover-up. In the "Smoking Gun" tape from June 23, 1972, Nixon conspired with Haldeman to obstruct justice by planning to pressure the FBI into halting the investigation. He served eighteen months in prison.

John Ehrlichman – Counsel to the President and Assistant for Domestic Affairs. One of the key figures involved in the creation of "The Plumbers" and an active participant in the cover-up. He was convicted of conspiracy, perjury, and obstruction of justice.

John Mitchell – Attorney General of the United States under Nixon (1969–1972) and director of Nixon's re-election campaign. He was found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury and served nineteen months in prison. Attention: This card is a reaction card. You can only use its action part as a direct response when the Editor uses the action part of an EVENT card. Play John Mitchell right away to cancel that action entirely. Then the Editor must discard their card unused to their discard pile. You may play John Mitchell as a re-reaction to the EVENT card "Mass demonstration" (to perform the action blocked by "Mass demonstration"), but not to JOURNALIST Ben Bradlee.

The Journalists (Editor's cards)

Bob Woodward – Hired as a reporter by the Washington Post in 1971 and, along with Carl Bernstein, assigned to report on the Watergate burglary. His investigative reporting, including the use of the confidential informant "Deep Throat," proved indispensable in holding the Nixon White House accountable.

Carl Bernstein – Joined The Washington Post in 1966. Along with Bob Woodward, was assigned the Watergate investigation. His tracing of funds paid to the burglars tied Nixon's re-election campaign to the burglary.

Ben Bradlee – Executive editor of the Washington Post from 1968 to 1991, responsible for supervising Woodward and Bernstein. Attention: This card is a reaction card. You can only use its action part as a direct response when Nixon plays a CONSPIRATOR card and uses that CONSPIRATOR's action part. Play Ben Bradlee right away to cancel that action entirely. Also Nixon must remove that CONSPIRATOR card from the game. You may play Bradlee as a re-reaction to CONSPIRATOR John Mitchell (to perform the EVENT blocked by Mitchell).

Other Cards

Operation Gemstone – A proposed series of clandestine or illegal acts to subvert the opposition, first outlined by Gordon Liddy together with John Mitchell, John Dean, and Jeb Magruder.

Gambit – Attention: When played for its action part, this card has an alternative to being removed from the game afterwards: If, at the same time, you happen to hold a CONSPIRATOR card in hand, you may remove this CONSPIRATOR from the game to discard the "Gambit" card to your discard pile instead. Note that if you do, you'll have one card fewer in hand to play this round.

A brilliant mood – Attention: You cannot use the action part of this card on your first turn of a round. Once you play the card and use its action part (on your second or a later turn), for the rest of the round the Editor can play their EVENT cards only for their value part (not their action part). JOURNALISTS may still be played for their action part.

The system works – Attention: When you use the action part of this card, look through all of YOUR cards that you have removed from the game. Choose one of them and use that card's action part now as if you had played it normally (it cannot be a reaction card). Afterwards, remove that card from the game again along with the "The system works" card.

Mass demonstration – Attention: This card is a reaction card. You can only use its action part as a direct response when Nixon plays a CONSPIRATOR card and uses that CONSPIRATOR's action part. Play "Mass demonstration" right away to cancel that action entirely. Also, Nixon must remove that CONSPIRATOR card from the game. You may play "Mass demonstration" as a re-reaction to CONSPIRATOR John Mitchell (to perform the EVENT blocked by Mitchell).

"Follow the money!" – Attention: This card is a reaction card. You can only use its action part as a direct response when Nixon uses the value part of a card to move an evidence token. As soon as Nixon moves that evidence token, play "Follow the money" to cancel the movement. Then, move that same evidence token from its initial position as many spaces towards your side as the value part of Nixon's card states. Then, Nixon must discard their card to their discard pile unused.

"A Third-Rate Burglary" – The History Behind the Watergate Scandal

The following historical outline is provided as an appendix in the rulebook for background and has no bearing on gameplay.

Introduction: Watergate, associated with arguably the most consequential political scandal in the history of the United States, is a building complex with apartments, offices, and a hotel, built along the banks of the Potomac River between 1963 and 1971. In 1972, the Watergate was a beacon of new development in a city dealing with the aftermath of the 1968 race riots and continued protests of the war in Vietnam. No one at the beginning of 1972 would suspect that Watergate would become synonymous with corruption, political dirty tricks, election tampering, and the resignation of a United States President.

Prelude: The Watergate scandal had its root in the public release of the Pentagon Papers, a detailed history of United States involvement in Vietnam. One contributing analyst, Daniel Ellsberg, painstakingly photocopied the report and the papers were published by several American newspapers. President Nixon initially enjoyed the embarrassment they caused the Democrats, but became concerned that further release of classified materials could hurt his standing and the delicate negotiations with China. In an effort to discredit Ellsberg, Nixon's counsel John Ehrlichman first sought a psychiatric write-up from the FBI, and when that proved unhelpful, the Plumbers were called in.

Plumbers: The Plumbers were a group led by former CIA agents acting as covert political operatives, whose job was stopping leaks at the White House and conducting "dirty tricks," funded through the President's re-election fund. They broke into Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office to get more information on him, only to discover his medical files were not there.

The Break-In: 1972 was an election year, and Nixon had told his re-election team, "Do whatever it takes" to win. Charles Colson brought in E. Howard Hunt; Ehrlichman brought in G. Gordon Liddy. Liddy developed several covert operations called Operation Gemstone to embarrass the Democrats. One approved plan was to obtain damaging information by breaking into the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters in the Watergate complex. The burglars first broke in on May 28, 1972 and planted listening devices, but discovered the bugs weren't working. On the night of June 17, 1972, a second break-in was attempted. Security guard Frank Wills noticed the doors had been taped and called the police. Three plain-clothes policemen responded and caught the five men around 2 a.m. Lookout Alfred Baldwin radioed Liddy and Hunt that the men had been arrested.

The Cover-Up: The Washington DC police called in the FBI, which recognized the devices as electronic bugs and discovered Hunt's name in the burglars' address books. John Dean, with FBI Acting Director Patrick Gray, eventually destroyed documents from Hunt's safe. Nixon ordered the CIA to impede the FBI investigation. Press Secretary Ziegler famously dismissed the incident as "a third-rate burglary." On August 29, 1972, Nixon publicly claimed no one in the White House was involved.

Follow the Money: Dean, Ehrlichman, and Colson worked to pay off the burglars so they wouldn't implicate the CRP or the White House. Colson and CRP bookkeeper Hugh Sloan funneled money from campaign contributions to the burglars through various banks. Unbeknownst to them, the banks kept records of all transactions, which came to light during the investigation and trials.

Scandal Widens: Judge John Sirica ("Maximum John") and the press began to grasp the scale of the scandal. The Senate voted 77-0 to convene a special investigation headed by Senator Sam Ervin. At the sentencing of the burglars, Sirica read a letter from McCord stating that the defendants felt political pressure to plead guilty, that several had committed perjury, and that others involved had not testified. Gray later admitted he had been providing John Dean constant updates on the FBI investigation. The Ervin commission televised its proceedings from May 17 through August 7, 1973; about 85% of Americans with televisions watched part of the hearings. Dean was the star witness, and the biggest news was the admission of the recording devices in the Oval Office.

Saturday Night Massacre and Resignations: Special Counsel Archibald Cox and the commission subpoenaed the tapes; Nixon refused, invoking executive privilege. On October 20, 1973, Nixon ordered Cox fired. Attorney General Richardson resigned rather than fire him, as did his deputy; finally Solicitor General Robert Bork fired Cox. The press and Democrats were outraged and Nixon's poll numbers plummeted. Leon Jaworski was hired to take over the investigation and became an even bigger problem for Nixon.

The End: On July 24, 1974, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Nixon must release the tapes. The recordings created a firestorm, most notably an 18½-minute gap for which Rose Mary Woods took responsibility. The final nail was the August 5, 1974 release of the June 23, 1972 "Smoking Gun" recording, in which Nixon and Haldeman discussed covering up the break-in. On August 7, 1974, Republican leaders told Nixon his impeachment would pass. President Nixon resigned, becoming the only person to resign as President of the United States.

Credits

Game Design: Matthias Cramer. Graphic Design: atelier 198. Development and rulebook: Viktor Kobilke. Rulebook revision: Neil Crowley and Travis Hill. Biographies: Andrew Ranks. Historical outline: Phillip Millman.

© 2019 Frosted Games, Matthias Nagy. © 2019 Capstone Games. For more information, visit www.capstone-games.com.